Does anyone recognize this lantern by Kelly Co?

I think this may be a whaling lantern but not sure. Company who made it research shows from 1800's. It's marked on the bottom. Can't find any pictures of the lanterns from the company. Rare I think. At first I thought it was a railroad lantern but because it doesn't have a cage around it I was told no by railroad lantern collectors. It has vertical bars but no horizonal and it doesn't look like any were ever on them horizontally. In research saw similar lanterns without cages that were whale lanterns. Any thought?

 

20th century road marker

 

I don't think it would be unpainted steel if intended for use at sea.

 

Maybe Kelly & Co that was in Rochester NY. They made lots of lanterns including railroad lanterns. Just a guess.

 

Hey Terry are you saying this lamp was for marking roads when their was an accident or such? Wow! I was way off if so! Thanks! I will research that. I don't know that Kelly lanterns were still being made in the 20th century but I will double check.

 

Yes they are the Kelly & co from Rochester because that is also marked on bottom. But the railroad lamp collectors that I've communicated with didn't think so because it had no horizontal cage just vertical. That's why I'm still researching and have found very little info on the Kelly co. Terry has given me another place to look but I haven't had a chance yet.

 

Ok, here is a whale oil lantern. Thought maybe this would help. Different manufacturer but same type lantern. I Kelly & Co made different types of lanterns. Anyway you will see it its not a whale lantern but a whale oil lantern. Hope this helps.

 

Thank you for sharing with me the whale oil lantern. Yes there are similiarities but as you said not the same. The other thing that I should have mentioned is the wick or wicks. It has two round rope like wicks. So does that tell anyone anything?

 

Many whale oil lamps have a similar looking wick set up. That does not make this a whale oil lamp. Using whale oil was a prestige thing rather than being practical. It did not burn very brightly and wouldn't have been behind tinted glass. It would be a 'nice' looking lamp if it were for whale oil. Whale oil went out of use for lamps well before this was made.

 

Thanks! And the mystery continues....

 

Here is their ad. they sold railroad lamps but also general purpose use. So it is certainly from them but its end user is probably impossible to determine.